Former President Donald Trump's recent comments about the Jan. 6 Capitol Riots drew a sharp rebuke from his former chief of staff.

"It was zero threat, right from the start, it was zero threat. Look, they went in, they shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in, and they are hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know, they had great relationships," Trump told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Thursday. "A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in and they walked out."

Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump's chief of staff from January 2019 to April 2020, shot back Saturday that Trump's comments were "manifestly false."

"I was surprised to hear the President say that. Clearly, there were people who were behaving themselves, and then there were people who absolutely were not, but to come out and say that everyone was fine and there was no risk, that's just manifestly false -- people died, other people were severely injured," Mulvaney told CNN's Pamela Brown on "Newsroom."

"It's not right to say there was no risk, I don't know how you can say that when people were killed," he added.

Mulvaney was one of the many officials that resigned shortly after the riot.

He faced backlash on social media for adding that he "absolutely would" still vote for Trump should he win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks posted on Twitter that Mulvaney's comments were "dangerous and not rational."

Democrats want to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R)
Democrats want to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) AFP / Brendan Smialowski
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